Abstract
Clinical studies were carried out in five cats that had disseminated metastases of a primary pulmonary tumor and were suspected of having so-called lung-digit syndrome. In each animal, the primary pulmonary tumor was a solitary nodular lesion. One cat exhibited respiratory symptoms, but the other four animals showed absolutely none of them, even at the time of death. The disseminated metastases were detected in the digits, superficial muscles, skin, lymph nodes and scapula. The median survival time was 60 days (range: 12∼ 125 days). Except for the animal that died with respiratory symptoms, the animals died suddenly due to unknown causes. These results indicate that a pathological diagnosis based on pulmonary lobectomy for lung-digit syndrome does not have much therapeutic significance, even if it has diagnostic meaning, except in cases with pronounced respiratory symptoms. In addition, the metastatic lesions were spread throughout the body, sometimes in multiple limbs. For that reason, it can be surmised that surgical approaches such as amputation of digits or limbs, which result in functional and organic deficits, are likely to lead to further reduction in quality of life due to the increased burden placed on the remaining digits and limbs without contributing significantly to a cure.
